Random JRPG News Thread

[vonAchdorf]

I tried Fairy Fencer F for an hour or so. It seems to run well on my laptop and the keyboard controls are serviceable, only the camera is a bit annoying (mouse doesn't make it better). My controller is broken, so I didn't try it.
The characters are about as annoying as you expected from the preview videos or LPs.
The options you have for combat are a bit overwhelming at first, you have lots of possibilities to tweak things, spend weapon points, select combos, learn skills, morph weapons into different forms (sword, axe, knuckles, ...), fuse fairies with swords, put swords into the landscape for area effects. Also I got the impression that positioning matters. But maybe it's not as complicated as it appears to be after an hour – or Neptunia veterans find it easier to understand.

 

[LESS T_T]

Kaga Shouzou, AKA that guy who made Fire Emblem, just announced that he's cooperating with a few familiar figures in making a new game... with some software called the "SRPG Studio".

Kaga said he would release the game for free when (if) he finishes it.

But he also said that the project was suffering from severe shortages of art materials, particularly unit chips and battle animations. He actually went as far as asking fans to donate materials (musics, arts, effects, etc.) compatible with the SRPG Studio.

Personally I'm rather sceptical of the final quality of the game (provided it would be finished at all), but nevertheless I wish the old man luck on his endevour. It's nice to see that not all legends of old have fallen to making mobile games and MMORPGs.

First gameplay video. Most of assets are placeholder.



You may want to skip to 2:38.

 

[Abu Antar]

8 more Odin Sphere Leifthrasir screens.

Spoiler

 

[Shadenuat]

It's probably going to be a while before I get around to playing it, but from what I've heard the gameplay is essentially the same as in Neptunia.

A ten feet arena where you choose some skills from a list and kill ravens and bees for 79877 damage. After tenth bee I installed Way of Samurai instead.

 

[Crooked Bee]

You made the right choice, then. That kind of senseless bee cruelty shouldn't be encouraged.

 

[Adon]

NieR didn't sell very well, a sequel surprised everyone and I have a feeling that if the second game doesn't get any marketing (the first didn't), then it won't sell in huge numbers. Then again, it all depends on the game's budget.

Platinum Games being the ones developing it will probably boost their numbers, although their stuff doesn't sell all that well either -- at least initially. Games like Vanquish made their numbers way after release when they were cheaper. I think it'll do fine with PG fans and all the people who came across Nier later on. Nothing crazy obviously, but it certainly can't be as bad as TW101 and Bayonetta 2 numbers.

 

[Abu Antar]

Platinum Games being the ones developing it will probably boost their numbers, although their stuff doesn't sell all that well either -- at least initially. Games like Vanquish made their numbers way after release when they were cheaper. I think it'll do fine with PG fans and all the people who came across Nier later on. Nothing crazy obviously, but it certainly can't be as bad as TW101 and Bayonetta 2 numbers.

I really hope not. My main beef with NieR was its combat. With PG on board, my complaint wil hopefully be adressed for this game. Like you said, PG games doesn't sell in massive numbers. Vanquish was on PS+, and Bayonetta was on PS3/360, but it did not do well enough for anyone to fund a sequel. That is of course when Nintendo swooped in and funded it because they really didn't have any solid action game for their platform.

 

[Executr]

We’re pleased to confirm that the Resident Evil 2 Remake Project has been officially approved!

Capcom’s Producer for the title, Yoshiaki Hirabyashi a.k.a. H, from R&D Division 1, commented: “It’s been great to see so many positive comments from fans that have pushed the project to get approved. The team here at Capcom Japan really appreciates fans’ passion and support and will do our best to bring fans what they really want.”

 

[Siveon]

Bring on the emotes to express hype!

 

[hemtae]

Grandia 2 HD is coming to Steam and GOG sometime this year: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/grandia-ii-hd-edition-coming-to-gogcom-set-for-201/1100-6429172/

August 24th. $20 ($15 at launch)

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/grandia-ii-remastered-launches-august-24/1100-6429824/

 

[LESS T_T]

Konami is doing survey on "heritage" franchises: http://mobilesurvey.blicx.com/

List of games including Suikoden, Vandal Hearts and Castlevania. It's good to know that they didn't forget these games, though I feel that they're thinking about mobile releases.

 

[Archibald]

Arcade gambling bullshit is more likely. If I'm not mistaken they made lots of profits from that in last year.

 

[Rahdulan]

List of games including Suikoden, Vandal Hearts and Castlevania. It's good to know that they didn't forget these games, though I feel that they're thinking about mobile releases.

Considering direction Suikoden went to I doubt there's anyone over there would work on a new one and actually know what he's doing, although I guess original creating bailing out was the last straw for the franchise as it was. And Vandal Hearts ended up outsourced to Hijinx Studios. Yes, that Hijinx Studios.

 

[yes plz]

I was about to defend Suikoden thinking the the fifth was the last game we got... then I remembered that the actual last two games developed were shitty handheld games that barely have anything to do with the actual Suikoden

Fucking Konami.

 

[LESS T_T]

Playism picked up a 'doujin' turn-based RPG (or rather, a visual novel with turn-based combat), Astro Maiden Apostle, developed by 99 Spirits developer: http://playism-games.com/article/comiket-88-games



English release is not confirmed yet.

 

[Abu Antar]

That's Radiant Historia style battle system right there.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Suddenly, Grandia II Anniversay Edition appears: http://store.steampowered.com/app/330390

 

[Andyman Messiah]

You're welcome.

 

[Rahdulan]

Wait a second. Wasn't this supposed to be the HD version?

 

[Crooked Bee]

Wait a second. Wasn't this supposed to be the HD version?

Visual upgrades to textures, lighting, and shadows

Dunno if that's the same thing as HD, but eh. It does have the promised "Additional difficulty level" and cloud save support.

 

[yes plz]

One of the Steam reviews says the new difficulty level just gives the enemies more health. As for the graphics, yeah, they don't look particularly different from the original PC version at max settings/with some tweaks.

Still, I'll probably get it. I love the game and haven't played it in close to a decade or so now. Plus, it has the original Japanese voice track, so there's at least that extra bonus (though I wonder if they added subtitles to battles or not).

 

[Siveon]

Yeah, just read an article saying the same thing:

From what I can tell, all the mode actually does is raise all monster HP by 20%. Unfortunately, this doesn't practically change the flow much for a large portion of the game. Not until late bosses (where a 20% HP increase is significant) did I start to see a noticeable difference on this front.

Bit of a bummer, but I still want it since before that all we had was a crappy PS2 port and the original DC game. Hopefully we'll see the same thing happen for Grandia I and III?

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yeah, I just bought it anyway because yay, another JRPG on Steam!

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Man, I've been dying to replay Grandia 2 even though I know it's probably just the nostalgia devils in my head talking to me. I even have the original somewhere. Doesn't work on my modern PC, so I'll probably get this anniversary edition thing eventually.

 

[Abu Antar]

I have the PS2 version and while it is shit compared to the DC version, I can't be arsed to get this. I voted Grandia III when they had that voting thingamajing going on.